Photos

Tsuyoshi Takado, professor of the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, displays an artificial ear, made of polyactic acid and designed by a 3D printer at his laboratory in Tokyo on January 16, 2015. Takato said his team had been working to create "a next-generation bio 3D printer", which would build up thin layers of biomaterials to form custom-made parts. His team combines stem cells -- the proto-cells that are able to develop into any body part -- and proteins that trigger growth, as well as synthetic substance similar to human collagen. AFP PHOTO / Yoshikazu TSUNOYOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images